Selective compartment shaker mechanism



July 16, 1957 D. P. F. TAVANI 2,799,433

SELECTIVE COHPARTMENT SHAKER MECHANISM.

Filed Feb. 16. 1955 INVENTOR. F'IG.6 oousmc a F. TAVANI ATTORNEY United States Patent SELECTIVE COMPARTMENT SHAKER MECHANISM- Domenic P; F. Tavani, Haverstown, Pa.

Application February 16, 1955, Serial No. 488,530

3 Claims. (Cl. 222142.8.).

My present invention relates to-condiment dispensers and more particularly t -a .nove1,.multiple. compartment shaker construction.

The principal object of thepresent inventioni-S. to pro vide a mechanism. for selectively dispensing condimentsf'rom, a multiple compartment shaker.

Another object of the. present invention is to provide a mechanism-of the type described which. is adaptable to different forms-of multiple: compartment containers.

A further object. of the present i'nventionis to provide a mechanism, which. is preset. at one compartmentand.

requires operation only in shifting to another compartment.

Another object: of thepresent invention: is: to provide a mechanism which is simple. in construction and readily fabricated from a minimum number of 'parts.

Withthe above and other objects and advantageous features in view, myinventionconsists of a novel: arrangement of parts, morefully disclosed in the; detailed description following, inconjunction' with the accompanying drawings and more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a perspective view of the device embodying by invention.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section thereof.

Fig. 3 is a section taken on line 33 on Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the bottom plate.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the sliding plate.

Fig. 6 is a bottom plan view of the cover plate.

It has been found convenient to place dilferent condiments in containers having multiple compartments. A mechanism is usually provided for selecting the compartment desired. The most common type of dispensers are salt and pepper. The difficulty is that errors are made in opening the various compartments and the wrong condiment often comes from the container. Many of these constructions are expensive to make because they must be built into the container. The present invention is designed to overcome these objectional features. It provides a mechanism having a number of simple parts which can readily be stamped and is adaptable to any type of multiple compartment container of the proper size. Furthermore, where one condiment is used more often, for example salt, the device of the present invention leaves that portion of the container open at all times. The user merely picks up the container and shakes. It is only when the less used condiment, such as pepper is to be used that the mechanism must be operated. After such use the mechanism will automatically return to its original setting.

Referring more in detail to the drawings, I have illustrated the mechanism as being rectangular in shape to fit over a rectangular container. This is for illustrative purposes only and the container and mechanism can be altered to any desired shape. The device of the present invention is illustrated as being made of metal, but it is 2,799,433 Patented July 16,1957

obvious that it can readily be made of plastic, glass or any other desired, material.

The device comprises a cover housing 10 having a flat plate body portion 11 with two groups, of openings 12 and 13 spaced from eachrother. The. edge of the portion 11 is turned integrally downwardly to form a peripheral wall 14. The. cover portion 10 houses the mechanism and is adapted to be snapped over a multiple compartment container shown, in dotted lines in Figs. land 2. For this purpose the end, walls are provided with detents 15 on the inside edges. One end wall is provided with a slot or opening 16 adjacent the plate portion; 11 as shown in Fig. 2.

' Mounted in the housing 10. is, a sliding plate 17 having a width substantially equal. to the width of the portion 11 of] the housing; but being shorter than the housing. The. plate 17 is provided with two. groups. of openings 18 and 19. arranged in such manner that when the plate 17 is. i'nsertedinto. the housing and pushed towards one end, the. openings 18 will, be in register with the openings 12 and the, openingslQ-will be. out of, register with the openings 13; However, if theplate-17 is moved in the opposite directionthen the openings 19 will come into register with the. openings 13 an-dthe openings, 18 will be out of register with the openings 12-. One end of the plate 17 is provided with an integral tab 20 which extends outwardly throughthe slot,1:6 in. the housing 10. The opposite end oft-he plate. 17 is provided with integral ears 21 at each, side: edge which, serve as, afstop when the plate 17 is, being pushedinwardl'y in order to positionthe openings 19 in register with the openings 13. A leaf spring- 22 is anchored in the, end of the plate 17 with one end extending into a cut out portion adjacent one of the ears 21 as. shown in Fig. 5" and the other end extending outwardly forwardly of the cars 21. As can be seen in Fig. 3, when the tab 20 is pushed to the right the leaf spring 22 will contact the Wall portion 14 of the housing 10 and will be compressed into the space between the ears 21. The movement of the plate 17 to the right can be continued only until the cars 21 contact the wall portion 14. At this point the spring lies in the space between the ears and the openings 19 will be in register with the openings 13. To ensure free sliding movement of the mechanism and prevent clogging by the different condiments I provide a bottom plate 23 which is substantially the same size and shape as the portion 11 in the cover plate 10. The plate 23 is provided with two groups of openings 24 and 25 which are in register with the openings 12 and 13 respectively in the cover plate 10.

With the parts assembled as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 the device is snapped over a multiple compartment dispenser so that the dividing wall extends between the sets of openings. It will be noted that the spring 22 will normally retain the plate 17 to the left of the housing with the tab 20 fully extended. In this position the openings 12 in the cover 10, the openings 18 in the plate 17 and the openings 24 in the plate 23 are in register. This compartment should therefore contain salt so that if the container is picked up and used it will always dispense salt without the necessity of operating the mechanism. The next compartment may contain pepper or paprika or some other spice. Here the openings 13 in the cover 10 and the openings 25 in the plate 23 are in register. However, the openings 19 in the sliding plate 17 are out of register with the other two and the compartment is normally in closed position. Now if the tab 20 is pushed inwardly against the action of the spring 22 until the ears 21 contact the end wall 14, the openings 19 will slide into register. Simultaneously the openings 18 will slide out of register with the openings 12 and 24 closing the other compartment. When a sufficient condiment has been used and the container has been put down. and re- 3 v. leased the spring 22 will force the plate 17 to the left back into the original position shown in Fig. 2.

I have thus provided a simple and effective mechanism for the selective use of one or the othercompartrnent of the container. The parts can be readily stamped from sheet stock and are easy and economical to manufacture and assemble. The dual compartment container can be of any size, shape or material it being only necessary that the top of the container fit within the walls 14 of the device. Other advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to a person skilled in the art.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a cover plate having an integral depending peripheral wall portion, said cover plate having two spaced groups of openings there-1 through, a sliding plate mounted under said cover plate within said wall portion, said sliding plate having integral positioning ears extending from each side of one end thereof, said sliding plate having two spaced groups of openings, one group of openings in said sliding plate being in register with one group of openings in said cover plate when said sliding plate is in one position and the second group of openings in said sliding and cover plates being in register when said sliding plate is in a second position, a bottom plate mounted within the wall portions of said cover plate beneath said sliding plate, said bottom plate having two spaced groups of openings therethrough in register with the openings in said cover plate, and means for yieldingly retaining said sliding plate in the first position.

2. In a device of the character described, a cover plate having an integral depending peripheral wall portion, said cover plate having two spaced groups of openings therethrough, a sliding plate mounted under said cover plate within said wall portion, said sliding plate having integral positioning ears extending from each side of one end thereof, said sliding plate having two spaced groups of openings, one group of openings in said sliding plate being in register with one group of openings in said cover plate when said sliding plate is in one position and the second group of openings in said sliding and cover plates being in register when said sliding plate is in a second position, and means for yieldingly retaining said sliding plate in the first position, said means comprising a leaf spring mounted in one end of said sliding plate and con tacting said cover plate wall portion.

3. In a device of the character described, a cover plate having an integral depending peripheral wall portion, said cover plate having two spaced groups of openings therethrough, a sliding plate mounted under said cover plate within said wall portion, said sliding plate having integral positioning ears extending from each side of one end thereof, an integral tab extending from one edge of said sliding plate through said wall portion of said cover plate, said sliding plate having two spaced groups of openings, one group of openings in said sliding plate being in register with one group of openings in said cover plate when said sliding plate is in one position and the second group of openings in said sliding and cover plates being in register when said sliding plate is in a second position, a bottom platemounted within the wall portions of said cover plate beneath said sliding plate, said bottom plate having two spaced groups of openings therethrough in register with the openings in said cover plate, and means for yieldingly retaining said sliding plate in the first position, said means comprising a leaf spring mounted in one end of said sliding plate and contacting said cover plate wall portion.

vReferences Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 618,138 Sechrist Ian. 24, 1899 923,390 Watson June 1, 1909 1,613,518 Kendall Jan. 4, 1927 1,627,781 Kendall May 10, 1927 1,952,016 Kreidler Mar. 20, 1934 

